High school track: Castro Valley's Nate Moore claims triple jump title on final attempt

BERKELEY -- It all came down to one attempt Friday in the boys triple jump finals at the North Coast Section Meet of Champions.

On the last jump of the competition, Castro Valley's Nate Moore came from behind to win with an outstanding mark of 50 feet, 2﻿1/4 inches at Cal's Edwards Stadium.

Entering this weekend, Moore led the state and was ranked second in the nation with a mark of 50-4﻿1/2, achieved April 5 at the Stanford Invitational. Before Moore took his final attempt Friday, James Logan's Karsten Wethington was leading with a personal-record 49-11﻿3/4 (wind-aided), an impressive mark in its own right.

But Moore's confidence didn't waver.

"When the competition level's there, and I'm hyping myself up, the jump will be there," said Moore, the defending state track and field champion in the triple jump and long jump.

Moore admitted he didn't think his final attempt was long enough to win.

"I thought it was like a high 49," he said.

"He's a real competitor. I love it. He pushes me, I push him. It's a friendly rivalry. We're like brothers," said Wethington, who had the third-best wind-legal mark in the state entering this weekend (49-4﻿1/2), according to PrepCalTrack.com.

There were six field event finals Friday, with the top three placers in each automatically qualifying for the state championships June 6-7 at Buchanan High-Clovis. The track events held were all trials.

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On Saturday, field event finals start at 9 a.m. and track finals begin at 1:30 p.m.

There were other dramatic victories Friday.

Washington's Vai Lousi was eighth entering the final three rounds of the girls discus. But she immediately set a personal record of 131-5 to vault into the lead, then after falling into second, she took the lead again with a mark of 135-0 on her fifth attempt on her way to winning the competition.

"I was just more relaxed," Lousi said about her fourth and fifth attempts. "I was just thinking about my grandpa, who recently passed away, my grandma and my mom."

Like Moore, Castro Valley's Kennedy Jones won an event on her last attempt.

Jones entered the final three rounds of the girls triple jump in sixth place, but she flew into first in the sixth round after soaring a personal-record of 39-1/4 and kept the lead to the event's end.

"I'm making it to state this year. That's what I thought right before I jumped (in the sixth round)," Jones said. "I knew I was out there when I landed. I knew I had jumped over 38."

Acalanes' Matt Thomas produced a personal record of 57-3 on his second attempt of the boys shot put and won the competition by 3﻿1/2 feet.